1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a loading device of light petroleum gas (LP gas) cylinders when LP gas is used as fuel in industrial vehicles such as a fork lift truck.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since LP gas is economical in comparison to gasoline or the like and advantageous in that a relatively small amount of harmful substances is contained in the exhaust gas, it is now used also in industrial vehicles such as a fork lift truck.
Since LP gas is filled in an interchangeable cylinder, when the LP gas is used in a fork lift truck, a cylinder must be loaded and therefore a loading device of the cylinder must be installed on the fork lift truck. As a loading device of a cylinder for a fork lift truck in the prior art, that of loading a cylinder in a horizontal state on top of a balance weight has been generally used.
FIG. 7 shows an example of a loading device in the prior art. In FIG. 7, a loading device "a" comprises a support foot part "b" fixed on a balance weight installed at a rear side of a fork lift truck A, and a bracket "d" which is formed in a concave arc shape on the support foot part "b" so as to hold a cylinder "c" such that the cylindrical axis thereof is in a horizontal state. A tightening band "e" is mounted on both longitudinal ends of the bracket "d" so that top end portions can be engaged with each other, and the cylinder "c" can be detachably fixed to the bracket "d" through the tightening action of the tightening band "e".
In such a prior art loading device, however, since a cylinder which can be held on the balance weight is limited to one in number on account of its space (Even if two cylinders can be held in a parallel in horizontal state, the loading and unloading work will become difficult.), the cylinder in an empty state must be immediately replaced by a new cylinder. Consequently, ordinary work such as cargo work must be interrupted temporarily.
In order to decrease the length of interruption of work due to lack of fuel as above described, a cylinder of large capacity is used in the prior art. However, such a cylinder of large capacity has considerable weight and therefore the changing work requires excessive labor.